Winners of the ICP Infinity Award 2016

by UnseenMay 17 2016

On the 11th of April the International Center of Photography celebrated the 32nd Infinity Awards in New York. Unseen congratulates winners Matthew Connors (Artist’s Book Award), Artur Walther (Trustee Award Winner) and Zanelle Muholi (Documentary and Photojournalism Award Winner) – all featured in last year’s edition of Unseen Magazine.

The Infinity Awards are considered the leading honour for excellence in the field. The winners were selected by an esteemd committee including Charlotte Cotton, Curator-in-Residence and Director of Programming for ICP’s new museum; Teju Cole, Photography Critic for The New York Times Magazine; and Brian Sholis a Curator of the Cincinnati Art Museum. International Center of Photography’s Infinity Awards have contributed greatly to emerging talent in the fields of phtotjournalism, art, fashion photography and publishing.

Matthew Connors, Chair of the Photography Department at the Massachusetts College of Art & Design in Boston, is a world-renowned artist whose work has been exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide. His winning book 'Fire in Cairo', presents Connor's take on the political conflict and turmoil that took place in Cairo during the historical events that took place in recent years. Though having struggled with his engagement with what took place, the artist's perspective of the events expose the complexity of the situation for what it was, as he depicts not only a variety of people across the Egyptian political spectrum but also individuals of his own experimental fiction.

Artur Walther is a former ICP Trustee and chaired the Exhibitions Committee for ten years. Walther’s involvement as a Trustee, student, and long-time supporter of ICP inspired him to begin what has now become The Walther Collection in Ulm, Germany, considered to be one of the most significant private collections of contemporary Asian and African photography. Artur Walther is one of the leading collectors of photography in the world today. For nearly twenty years, The Walther Collection has been devoted to supporting global photography through exhibitions and scholarships. His collection includes Zanele Muholi.

Zanele Muholi who has stated that it is her mission ‘to re-write a black queer and trans visual history of South Africa for the world to know of our resistance and existence at the height of hate crimes in SA and beyond'. Muholi has won many awards and she was shortlisted for the 2015 Deutsche Börse Photography Prize for her publication Faces and Phases: 2006-14 (Steidl/The Walther Collection).